Audio Version Of The Blog – 08.24.14

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Convention In Sochi – 08.24.14

Convention in Sochi, Lesson 1

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Son Of The Future World

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe moment I receive the intention “for the sake of bestowal” without receiving anything in return, I begin to be called a “son of the future world”; I enter the upper world in the perception through the intention to bestow, the aspiration to bestow.

Then I begin to perceive the Light that fills me, the Light of Hassadim, in my bestowal to others (only inside the desire, because so far I have nothing to bestow), in my attitude towards them. This fulfillment pulls me away from my egoistic desire.

It does not disappear, but I pull away from it, rise above it; it no longer feels important to me, the desires of others become important to me, just like what matters most to a mother is the desire of her infant, and she dedicates herself fully to caring for him. But this is part of her nature, and we attain this attitude towards others through the Upper Light.

In this way I reveal the upper world. And as I disconnect from myself and begin to live within the desires of others without any connection to myself, I reach a state called “freedom from the angel of death,” when my desire, where I previously felt alive, no longer feels like the source of life in me, something that brings me to life. It does not bring me to life. I perceive life in the fulfillment of other desires, Kelim, because they have become mine.

Freedom from the angel of death means that my desire, even on its lowest initial level, which seems as though my body can cease living, receiving even the minimal illumination that gives it life, Kista de Hayuta, and I do not feel as if I had lost something. I no longer relate myself to it because I have acquired a different Kli, called soul.

These others’ desires that I perceive as mine are called a vessel, the Kli of my soul. And the fulfillment within these desires is fulfillment with the Light of NRNHY of my soul. There I meet the upper force, the root of everything, and this means that I attain adhesion with the Creator.

Then I begin to understand that the little sensation in my egoistic desire, with which I had begun my journey, was a mere illusion in which I needed to live and exist in order to enter this universal reality of bestowal.

The previous reality was simply imaginary, existing only in my illusion, like in a dream. But in reality it does not exist, because there is no place for desire to receive pleasure. This imaginary, made-up world disappears like a dream.

In this way we approach a different desire. And every time a person attains within the Kelim of others, which become his own. And this is why it is written: “Man learns where his heart desires”; in that place, in those desires, he reveals an eternal, absolute, higher life.
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From the lesson 11/26/2010, Writings of Rabash

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Do Not Lose Your Connection To Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhen reading The Zohar, we primarily need to think about the intention, as if I am planning on traveling and the main most important thing is for me to arrive at the correct destination.

But at the same time I need to do many things along the way. For example, if I need to go to another city, I get in the car, lock the doors, turn the ignition on, buckle up, and drive along many streets, sometimes even in the wrong direction, until I reach the main road. Why can’t I just go straight?

But the fact is that I consist of many systems, different desires, and I need to be connected with many conditions, parts of the common system of Adam (man), which operate in two directions: reception and bestowal. The different combinations of reception and bestowal are so complex and complicated that sometimes it is completely impossible to understand how a certain event or condition can relate to the goal; for example, horrible events like World War II and other catastrophes that cannot be justified. But every action brings us closer; we just do not see how it brings us closer. For this reason, intentions, actions, thoughts, and desires can become their absolute opposite, changing 180 degrees. But, at the same time, we must keep the goal.

Imagine what would happen if you forgot where you were going in the middle of the trip! Such illnesses occur in old age. This is not just a weak memory where you get in the car and don’t remember where you are going; it is a detachment from reality that occurs all the time. Such person can no longer take care of himself; he needs to be taken care of, like a child.

We have the same illness with respect to spirituality since we lose our intention! Every moment we lose the connection with life and forget: why we live, what we have done and are still doing, and for what purpose. This is an actual illness, and we need to fight it in every possible way otherwise we are not alive! When I lose the intention, I do not live a spiritual life! I live like an animal instead of a human!

Now tell me, how many moments in your life have you spent living like a human? How much effort have you put into being human? Are you at least trying to attain it? The number of these moments equals the number of times you have let the upper Light influence you. And you still want to attain some kind of result this way? You did not even give the Light a chance to work on you, maybe just ten minutes in ten years!

And now you count time by the calendar and complain that it has been ten years, how much longer? After all, it is written that this takes from three to five years! But what were you doing all this time?

You count time according to the clock turning, but did you spin with it around one intention? You did not? Then what are you demanding?

In other words, we all have Alzheimer’s, an absolute loss of memory, and we do not even suspect it. And how can we keep a pure intention this way? This is why there is mutual guarantee! Other people come to those who have lost their memory and help them! There is no other solution. So let us agree to keep the intention.
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From a lesson The Zohar 11/25/2010

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The Repeatability Of An Experience Is The Criterion Of Truth

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Do we have freedom in selecting our faith?

Answer: We only have one freedom of choice, and it does not apply to faith.

It is clear that we do not choose anything that our nature finds repugnant, we choose things that suit it; from this follows that there is no freedom of will in this.

Instead of choosing faith, we need to attain revelation, to reveal the truth instead of choosing what we like most from abstract theories!

If other people in this world have other facts, then my knowledge is no longer a fact. How do Kabbalists who attain the spiritual revelation know that they have revealed things that are authentic and correct? They know this because all of them reveal the same phenomena in their experience.

Every person, who attains a certain degree or correction of a certain force, reveals the same phenomena. He receives the same inner fulfillment, called the soul, like all the others who have attained the same state.

The path, the attainment, and the understanding are the same for all; every person comes to the same result. This is why Kabbalists refer to this as facts, like facts of our world.

In our world I do an experiment, get results, publish the explanation of the results in scientific paper, and invite all to verify the truth. And when my results are checked, confirming they are true, it becomes an accepted fact.

There is no absolute knowledge that does not require proof; everything is according to my actual sensations through which I attain the facts.

Certainly, this knowledge is relative; it is attained according to my physical properties. But everyone attains the same facts and this is why they are called a scientific law. This is how we derived all the physical laws.

All of them have been determined in the conditions that surround us on this planet. But if we were thrown on some other planet, there might be completely different laws; who knows?

I verify the laws in relation to another human like me living on this planet.

According to Einstein’s theory, if you travel at the speed of light, other laws will take effect: distance will compress, time will accelerate, geometry will distort with the straight becoming curved and curves straightening out.

Therefore, we establish that we are studying a physical science that can be applied to any person. And we have the same approach in spirituality. This refers to the authenticity of Kabbalah as a science: when we reach certain conclusions, and we know that they are applicable to us.

Rabash writes that if an angel and I were to look at a table at the same time, we would see different things. This is why all conclusions are in relation to the person attaining them.
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From the lesson “Body and Soul” 11/28/2010

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Play A Movie On Demand

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I do not understand what desire is, is it a vessel for the Light?

Answer: Only forces surround us in the world. If I want to lift a ton of metal, over the force of gravity of this ton mass, I need to add a little over a ton of effort.

It turns out that there are two forces: the force of gravity, the force of the material, through which it exists, and the force with which I influence it.

Even ordinary physics acknowledges that the particles of matter do not exist; there are only forces, some waves. The desire to receive pleasure, the material of creation, is also a force.

This is the way we discover and perceive it because we only feel forces. Why do I perceive an object: its color, volume, weight, and temperature? This is how I perceive forces that influence my sensors, and I visualize an image according to my sensations.

And Kabbalah says that all the billions of forces that fill the universe in their essence are just two forces: the force of reception and the force of bestowal, one against the other.

And I am the third, I am in the middle between them, and I need to build myself from these two forces, like the Creator. These two forces come from the Creator: material and intention, and I need to use them to create a likeness to Him.

We are surrounded only by forces that influence us and create the picture of the world for us. Right now I live in a film, which is projected within me on my material.

And this picture appears from the combination of forces the same way electromagnetic forces form images on a computer screen.

Only I have a better picture: three-dimensional, live, tangible. People say that soon laser films will exist; there is no problem creating this when everything is just forces.

But we are so used to our film that we take it for reality. As soon as we begin to separate ourselves from it even just a little, everything takes a different turn.

And the main thing is that you begin to see that you can change this film! If you want to watch a different movie—go ahead! These forces are in your hands.

This is what we learn in Kabbalah.
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From the lesson “Beit Shaar HaKavanot” 11/28/2010

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Advice -> A Wonderful Means -> A New Calculation

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe listen to the advice of the Kabbalists about the proper way of organizing ourselves in different situations and states in order to receive the maximum influence of the Light that Reforms.

This is why we carry out different artificial, material, egoistic actions according to the principle of “We shall do, and we shall hear!” And this advice works.

But Kabbalists cannot obligate us to perform acts of bestowal. As we work with our egoistic material according to their advice, we want to attract the unfamiliar force of the Surrounding Light so that it will influence us and transfer us into a new state.

And at that moment when I begin to change, I begin to act in a different manner, with a new mind and a new heart. We work according to this chain: advice -> a wonderful means -> a new calculation.

This is why, when working with students (both children and adults), one needs to search for activities that will attract the maximum Surrounding Light, and this will have the best outcome. And, if it does not work, then there is nothing that can be done. All we can do is ask for correction, raise MAN (prayer): I want an inner change!

Everything that comes from above is a consequence of the influence of the Upper Light, which we cannot touch. It pertains to the “secrets of the upper governance.”

We attract the Surrounding Light by studying the primary sources. And if adults read the texts of Baal HaSulam, it is enough for the children to have a discussion about these articles; for example, a discussion on “Body and Soul,” “Perception of Reality,” or “Freedom of Will,” discussing their connection with some physical or chemical laws in our world. Make it entertaining, in the form of a game. By doing this, we will attract the same Light.

We need to explain the mechanics of changing a human being to children. They perceive it as facts and begin to use it. Gradually all of this will become stored in them.

Working with children differs from working with adults. It is written that teaching a child is like writing on a clean slate. A child’s matter understands everything naturally so they accept everything they hear from adults as the truth.

This reflects the between the root and the branch. When we perceive someone older than us, we perceive all of his words as obvious facts. And we need to use this property that children have in order to fill them correctly instead of that with which our egoistic world stuffs them.
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From the lesson “Body and Soul” 11/29/10

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The Essential Secret Of The Jews, Part 29

From the book The Essential Secret of the Jews, M. Brushtein.

About Kabbalah

Before we continue with the story, we need to give some information about the science, on which we so often rely. It is not hard to guess that we will be talking about the wisdom of Kabbalah. Here are a few words about the origins of Kabbalah.

Abraham – in what was he the first one? As we have already mentioned, he was the first who managed to form Kabbalistic revelations into a clear method, suitable for passing down to future generations…” (M. Brushtein, Anti-Semitism as a Law of Nature. M.: AST, 2014, p. 51)

What is this science?

“Kabbalah is the only science of the development of creation. It is the source of all the other sciences and teachings.” (Dr. Michael Laitman).

Baal HaSulam writes about the same, but in more detail.

“… This wisdom is no more and no less, than a sequence of roots, which hang down by way of cause and consequence, in fixed, determined rules, interweaving to a single, exalted goal described as the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures in this world.” (Yehuda AshlagThe Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah)

In the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” he explains in great detail, what Kabbalah is and what it is engaged in. In addition, he devotes a lot to its scientific apparatus and terminology.

“Thus Kabbalists have found a set and annotated vocabulary before their eyes, sufficient to create an excellent spoken language. It enables them to converse with one another of the dealings in the spiritual roots in the upper worlds by merely mentioning the tangible branch in this world that is well defined to our corporeal senses.”

He did not forget the stigmas and prejudice against Kabbalah.

“Many believe that all the names and the words in the wisdom of Kabbalah are a kind of abstract names.”

Following is the answer of Kabbalists.

“But that is not the case. On the contrary: Kabbalah uses only names that are concrete and real. It is an unbending rule for all Kabbalists that, ‘Anything we do not attain, we do not define by a name and a word.’”

“Here you must know that the word ‘attainment’ (Heb: Hasaga) implies the ultimate degree of understanding.”

Thus, Kabbalistic information, clothed in a special terminology, is fully tied to this terminology. This method of transmitting information is called “the language of branches.”

This implies, firstly, that this text may be written only by a person who sees a connection between root and branch, and secondly, that nothing can be changed in this text arbitrarily.

“Yet, you will fully understand it once you have acquired the above conceptions. This is because it is now clear that no language in the world can be used to explain that wisdom, except one that is intended for just that end, namely the language of branches, relating to their upper roots.”

“Now you will not wonder at the occasional use of alien appellations. It is so because they have no freedom of choice with appellations, to replace the bad with the good, or the good with the bad.”

The language of branches is in fact the principle of transferring information. Thus, using, for example, historical narration or Kabbalistic terminology, it is possible to transmit the same information.

“That is the nature of the spoken language among Kabbalists, by which they convey their spiritual attainments from person to person and from generation to generation, both by word of mouth and in writing. They fully understand one another, with the required accuracy needed for negotiating the study of the wisdom with precise definitions one cannot fail in.”
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 08.24.14

Writings of Baal HaSulam  “Igrot,” Lesson 19

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Writings of Baal HaSulam  “Introduction to the Study of  the Ten Sefirot,” Item 28

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